Getting the balance right in the power battle with the Premier League will be key to Greg Dyke's success at the FA. Photograph: Murdo Macleod for the Guardian

1 Governance reform

It is the interminable debate that every FA chairman (and indeed every sports minister) comes into the job promising to solve and which causes most to exit ashen-faced and tearing their hair out. And it is the dysfunctional nature of the FA's structure from which so many of its problems flow. David Bernstein took a consensual approach to trying to force through the modest reforms first suggested by the Burns review in 2005. The issues then were much as they are now – an FA council stuffed full of aged white men that does not reflect the wider game and an FA board still too easily derailed by conflicts of interest or deadlock between the professional and amateur game. Bernstein made some progress in reforming the board. But he was endlessly frustrated elsewhere and now admits he should have been bolder. The FA has also begun the process of looking at its sometimes outmoded disciplinary process but Dyke must go further and faster.

2 Balance of power with the Premier League

Since the FA gave birth to the Premier League 22 years ago, swayed by the promise it would help the national side, the balance of power has shifted endlessly to where the money is. In some ways the Premier League has ended up assuming assumed many of the functions of the governing body. Too often, the FA has ended up being dictated to rather than having the final say and Bernstein formally abdicated the governing body from having any oversight over large areas of the professional game. A better working relationship is crucial if progress is to be made. The exit of the wildly unpredictable Sir Dave Richards as Premier League chairman should help set relations on a more professional footing that is less prone to personality issues.

Previous incumbents such as Lord Triesman were undone by naive and ill-judged public attacks on the Premier League, while others have been too emollient. Getting the balance right will be key to Dyke's success.

3 Wembley Stadium

Bernstein was pivotal in getting the national stadium back on a firm financial footing after the wild overspend of the construction phase. But he had a relatively benign ride as the FA consolidated the business model – even if the contrast between the huge investment in building a new stadium and the relative lack of focus on other areas has become ever more starkly drawn. It has hosted the Champions League final twice and continues to attract a profitable range of events, even as the FA continues to subsidise the loans taken out to fund its construction. But a potential dilemma awaits Dyke – the 17,500 Club Wembley debenture holders who paid £50,000 apiece for their seat at the height of the economic boom. Their 10-year packages run out in 2017 and the FA faces an uphill battle to get them to renew, creating a potential financial timebomb. Meanwhile, on the other side of London, it faces new competition for concerts and sporting events from the Olympic Stadium.

4 National side

This remains the overriding prism through which the FA is judged. Qualifying for Brazil is a prerequisite, in both football and commercial terms. But more important for Dyke will be whether he can make progress on some of the systemic issues holding back progress such as a winter break, player release and – most difficult of all – the development of better, more technically proficient homegrown players. St George's Park is a belated leap forward but the FA still ties itself in knots over its development sides. Longer term, St George's Park will help. But the ability of Dan Ashworth, as director of elite development, to make headway on changing the culture of English football will depend partly on Dyke's political ability.

5 The grassroots

One endlessly overlooked part of the FA's remit is its responsibility to those who play the game on sometimes dilapidated pitches up and down the country. Football's grassroots are facing something of a perfect storm – outmoded structures, lack of local authority investment in facilities and falling participation levels in both the 11-a-side and five-a-side games. Sport England has warned that if numbers don't improve then the FA faces losing public funding. The FA recently launched a three-year plan to invest £150m in grassroots projects but others were scathing about the extent to which it had been worked through and where the money would come from. Too much of the FA's work in this area is tied to sponsors such as McDonald's, Tesco and Mars. It employs many good, passionate people but it is rarely considered enough of a priority at board level. Dyke's task will be to galvanise the staff and ensure this vital part of the FA's remit is given proper attention.

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